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The outlook for Thursday (July 13) through Saturday (July 15) is looking more promising, with sunshine and scattered showers to start, but becoming warm and humid again in the south and central areas.

It felt like we hadn't seen rain in a long time when showers started pouring down, but have you ever seen these incredible types of precipitation?

Here are five of the most intriguing courtesy of the Met Office.

Diamond dust

(Image: Met Office)

This pretty form of precipitation occurs only where temperatures hit below freezing, such as the polar regions.

It was given it's name due to it's sparkly appearance when light hits the ice crystals.

The meteorological phenomenon is also referred to as ice crystals.

Virga

(Image: Met Office)

When falling rain or ice passes through an area of dry or warm air, trails of precipitation that fall from the underside of a cloud - but evaporate before it can reach the earth's surface - is called virga.

Virga trails are often referred to as 'jellyfish clouds' based on their puffy-top appearance with streaky stingers hanging below.

It looks most striking when lit by a red sunset with a light wind extending the tail into a angled curve.

Freezing rain

(Image: Met Office)

A rare phenomenon, which rarely occurs in the UK, freezing rain is a liquid form of precipitation - rain droplets or drizzle - that fall in supercooled liquid form until it strikes a cold surface.

It occurs when falling through air with a temperature below zero and then freezes on impact with the ground or another object to form clear ice - also known as glaze.

Freezing rain tends to start its life as snow, ice, sleet or hail, but passes through a layer of warmer air on the way down.

Squall

(Image: Met Office)

A squall is a sudden, sharp increase in wind speed that generally lasts for for some minutes, dying away suddenly.

Often recognised as intense localised rain storms as they were frequently followed by precipitation.

Lake effect snow

(Image: Met Office)

Created when cold, dry air picks up moisture and heat by crossing over lakes of a warmer temperature.

It then deposits as snow near the shore.

Facts were obtained by the Met office - if you'd like up-to-date weather forecasts, visit their website .

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